Possibilities For Overnight Floats For September

[moguy1973]

My buddy and I have planned an overnight trip on the Current and/or Jack's Fork for the 2nd weekend of September. We were thinking of four different floats and were wondering which would be our best bet for good smallmouth fishing. Our thoughts were:

1. Akers to Jerktail: 21 miles, camp on a gravel bar, transport camping gear and food in our kayaks, shuttle ourselves.

2. Round Spring to Two Rivers: 18 miles, camp on a gravel bar, transport camping gear and food in our kayaks, shuttle ourselves

3. Eminence Bridge (Jack's Fork) to Blue Spring (Current): 16 miles, camp at Two rivers, keep our vehicle at the campground so we don't have to transport it in our kayaks, have Two Rivers shuttle us.

4. Williams Landing to Powder Mill: 19 miles, same conditions as #3.

We were leaning towards #3 or #4 since the campground will be the about the halfway point and we wouldn't have to weigh down our kayaks with all our stuff. Any thoughts?

[Terrierman]

I prefer sand / gravelbar camping and a lot fewer miles in a day.

[Al Agnew]

The campground probably won't be too crowded or noisy in September, but ordinarily I avoid developed campgrounds like the plague. I've had too many sleepless nights when a group of hoosiers partied half the night. There's simply nothing like camping on a gravel bar with nobody else around.

[TroutRinger]

If smallmouth fishing is the top factor, I would say #2. Plus it would be the easiest and cheapest logistically. Just in case you didn't already know, the land around the river near Eminence is private so you'll either have to pay for a camp site or stop above/below town.

#3 is probably a good choice, but I haven't floated that section of the current.

I personally have never been too fond of the smallie fishing on the current. With the exception of fishing right around Round Spring campground, I haven't had nearly the success there as on the JF...could just be me.

[Al Agnew]

If smallmouth fishing is the top factor, I would say #2. Plus it would be the easiest and cheapest logistically. Just in case you didn't already know, the land around the river near Eminence is private so you'll either have to pay for a camp site or stop above/below town.

#3 is probably a good choice, but I haven't floated that section of the current.

I personally have never been too fond of the smallie fishing on the current. With the exception of fishing right around Round Spring campground, I haven't had nearly the success there as on the JF...could just be me.

Well, technically you can still camp on the gravel bars even in the private land portions, but as a practical matter I wouldn't want to try camping within sight of a house or road or hotel. By the time you get a day's float below Eminence where you'd want to camp, you're back in the Riverways land, anyway.

The Round Spring to Two Rivers stretch can be very good fishing once the hordes of rental boats are mostly gone. The Jacks Fork from Eminence to Two Rivers is probably about as good as the Round Spring to Two Rivers stretch, and you'll maybe see a few more big fish, though catching them is tough. Probably there are more big fish from Two Rivers to Logyard, but it also gets more fishing pressure. Akers to Round Spring is very nearly a waste of time to fish until you get below Pulltite, but it's a gorgeous stretch of river with lots of interesting things to see, and very nice when it isn't crowded.

Keep in mind that Williams Landing and Jerktail are a long way on a gravel road, not the most pleasant of shuttles to do from or to either of those spots. Also, I'd make sure that Two Rivers is willing to do what amounts to two shuttles for a reasonable price if you do either #3 or #4.

[2sheds]

Like Al, camp on a gravel bar if you enjoy that sort of thing and treasure your solitude. Picking one with a good fishing hole is wonderful for dusk and dawn entertainment before the party floaters descend.

#3 & #4 would be the better SMB fishing. The Two Rivers Campground is generally nicer & quieter than the other commercial campgrounds along the Current+JacksFork. That is my base camp for day floats on those rivers. Have not found great bank fishing from the Two Rivers Campground, but that is old information - I haven't been since the last couple of floods rearranged the structure. Very short Day #2 if you camp at Two Rivers. I would pick a gravel bar on JF significantly upstream of Horse Camp or on the Current several miles upstream of Two Rivers.

#1 is nice scenery and limited HP on the outboard motors upstream of Round. Jerktail can be an unpleasant shuttle, depending on condition of the lengthy gravel road. If there is enough water, I prefer to put in at Baptist Camp (great for kayak as the character morphs from a creek into a river) and hope to catch some trout down to Akers (16 miles). But I agree with Al that the SMB fishing doesn't pick up until downstream of Akers and better below Round.

#2 is a classic and you will have plenty of company. Key would be to get on the water BEFORE the party crowd, mid-day nap in the shade, and a gravel bar around Troublesome Hollow (deep hole at sharp left turn upstream of Pulltite) or a few miles downstream of Pulltite (possibly WideFord).

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